A writer's look at the quilting and quilt art community and anything else fabric.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Inspiration from unlikely places: Linda Gass

Maps tickle our curiosity and speak of the unknown, making it known. Maps in themselves are treasures and as you can see from Linda Gass's work, also art. The statement underlying the beauty is one we all need to hear.

You may be familiar with Linda's work or have seen her teaching or appearing a couple of times with Alex Anderson on HGTV's Simply Quilts. Please give her a warm Subversive Stitcher welcome. Here's Linda Gass in her own words:

After the Gold Rush, (first photo) I have tried to beautify an unnatural landscape through a play of color and texture on silk. The landscape is I-5, a major transportation artery, crossing the California Aqueduct, the man-made river that moves water from north to south and irrigates farm fields in what once was a desert. This is the second mining of California and hence the name of the quilt. (Inspired by a photograph by Ray Atkeson, courtesy of the Ray Atkeson Image Archive.)

Eight years ago I went to hear the poet Gary Snyder. Snyder mentioned a list of questions he likes ask people entitled “How Local Are You?”

He asks “do you know where your water comes from?” “do you know where your garbage goes?” “do you know where your water goes?” “name five native grasses,” “name five native birds,” and so on. I consider myself an environmentalist and one who lives close to the earth, however I was embarrassed to realize that I didn’t have answers to any of his questions.

The questions tumbled around in my brain over the years. Every once in a while I would ask someone if they knew where our water came from or if our curbside recycling actually got recycled. I would get varying responses and it only became more mysterious to me.

Then a serendipitous thing happened: a new environmental organization formed in my home town and I joined a Green Ribbon Citizens Committee to research and make recommendations to the city on water and waste. A small group of us met weekly and researched every source we could find. We organized field trips to local recycling facilities, landfills and sewage treatment plants. We met with our local service providers for waste hauling and water supply. I was in heaven; I was finally getting the real answers to the “How Local Are You?” questions.

But the answers were more like hell. I learned that the outtake for half of my drinking water is downstream from where the city of Stockton discharges their treated sewage into the San Joaquin River. I learned that some of our collected yardwaste isn’t composted but sold to a local power generation plant and burned for energy. And I learned that the bottom has fallen out of the recycling market and much of our plastic sits in huge bales waiting for a buyer and may simply become landfill.

From here came the inspiration for my latest series of artwork, all very personal in nature.

They are stitched paintings on silk of where my garbage goes, where my sewage goes and where my gasoline is refined. All are aerial landscape views exploring land use issues on the edge of San Francisco Bay, a body of water near and dear to me as I live only a few miles from it. The artworks visually highlight the juxtaposition of the development to the bay and I have titled all three of them to end in a question mark as a signal to the viewer.

The San Francisco Bay is an estuary, a semi-enclosed body of water where fresh river water mixes with salty sea water. It supports over 750 species of fish, animals and birds. The wetlands surrounding the bay filter toxic pollution and excess nutrient runoff, making them essential to the health of the region’s fish & wildlife populations as well as the human residents. Unfortunately we have developed these lands in ways that threaten our collective health.

Treatment? (photo above) shows my local Regional Water Quality Control Plant. Raw sewage is processed into nearly drinking quality water and then discharged into the bay. This freshwater discharge dilutes the salinity of the bay and is a source of contaminants not removed by the treatment process.

Sanitary? (photo above) shows the landfill where my garbage is hauled weekly. This 342 acre island is one of several artificial mountains built from trash that sit on the edge of the bay. Surrounded by essential wetlands, it borders a fresh water river that flows into the bay. Organic materials in the landfill generate climate changing methane gas while leachates from run off have to be carefully managed to avoid contaminating the nearby water.

Refined? (above) shows the Chevron refinery in Richmond where oil tankers dock offshore and their raw crude is transferred to the refinery through pipelines. The company is the largest industrial polluter in the region and has been fined in the past for discharging untreated toxic wastewater into the bay. The proximity of this noxious industrial facility to the bay highlights the vulnerability of the bay and the vigilance we must maintain in protecting it.

These three artworks are part of an exhibit entitled "Still Water" which runs through November 22, 2009 at the Dalton Gallery at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.

My hope is to use the lure of beauty in my work to encourage people to look at the hard issues we face. The process of doing the research for my latest artwork caused me to seriously question the way I live and how we can do better. I like to think of my artwork as a snapshot in time that I hope we will never return to. If all goes well in the coming years, much of this landscape will be radically transformed and we’ll return to having a healthier bay.

Bio:

Linda Gass has been in love with textiles since her grandmother taught her to sew and embroider as a child.

In her early adult years, she took a detour through technology after graduating from Stanford University with a BS in Mathematics and an MS in Computer Science and worked in the software industry for 10 years.

Linda returned to making textiles 14 years ago and now exhibits her work internationally in galleries and museums. Her work is published in numerous books and magazines including The Map As Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography, Art Quilts: A Celebration, Fiberarts Design Book 7, American Style, American Craft, Surface Design, Fiberarts and Batik for Artists and Quilters. She was featured in two episodes of Simply Quilts on Home & Garden Television and has taught workshops at Arrowmont and the Mendocino Art Center.

She travels extensively in the wilderness areas of the West where she finds much of the inspiration for her work. Linda serves on the advisory board of the Black Rock Arts Foundation and the leadership team of GreenTown Los Altos. She is a master member of the Baulines Craft Guild. She also served on the boards of the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles and the Textile Arts Council of the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Pumpkin Art!

Sherry Rogers-Harrison has taken her ink pens and chose a new pallet -- a pumpkin. She suggests a faux pumpkin makes for a better canvas than the real deal. What are you creating this Halloween? Autumn art?

Graffiti art by Rayna Gillman

My urban pieces have been part of my work for a decade. I shoot graffiti photos wherever I go and I have include them in my pieces very often. This is my most recent piece, Broken Dreams, which is now hanging in Form not Function at the Carnegie Art Center. The text and images are graffiti photos I have taken in New York, Phildelphia, Paris, and London.

Tesselation Nation

Wow! Wow! Wow! Have you seen this blog? Tesselation Nation by Raymond Houston will inspire you and give you the tools to make your own tesselation patterned quilt! Definitely worth a visit or a bookmark to visit again and again!

A touch of beauty: Wallflowers

This seemed to fill a need. When I saw it I had to smile and then I had to share it with everyone! It is lovely and made by Diane Evans. Click on the photo to visit her blog. She entered this in the Online Bloggers Quilt Show

Helen Remick's YoYo Tricks!

A show of 16 of Helen's quilts is at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum, 703 South 2nd Street, La Conner, WA. Quilts will be on display now through December 31. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm. Click on photo to go to the museum web site. Helen's class, New Yoyo Tricks, will be on November 8 from 10 to 2. It includes lunch and a private exhibit tour. Remick and students will make altered yoyos and explore their design possibilities. Cost for museum members is $55, for non-members $65. You can make reservations by calling the museum at 360-466-4288. Shown is YoYo 2 -- Trip Around the World.

Fish 'n Baskets Quilt

This is perhaps the most amazing quilt I've ever encountered and am happy to call it my own. Just recently discovered that my Great Grandmother pieced the top in around 1870.

Stairway to Cat Heaven -- WE FOUND IT!

We are in luck. A dear Subversive Stitcher -- Holly -- found a link to access the archived pattern. Click on the picture to go to the pattern link. THANKS HOLLY!!!! Obviously this is a favorite for several of you. I get at least two requests a week for this pattern.

Heart of a Tree....

Lorraine Roy created this piece in 2002 as part of a solo travelling exhibition inspired by rare an endangered tree species in the Canadian Carolinian zone of Ontario (where she was born and still lives). She writes, "This particular species, native Flowering Dogwood, is best known for its beautiful white spring blooms, but I portrayed in full red fall colour. Why? In my research on this tree, I discovered that the Native people used decoctions from its fruit as a heart medicine. The name Dogwood originates from its former name, Daggerwood... because its very hard, resilient trunk and branches were used in making daggers. Combine this with the plant's resplendent fall colour, in leaf and berry... and the love we all feel for this endangered species... and you have all the elements necessary for the heart motif connected by the 'coursing blood and veins' of the tree's roots."

Every Beat Has a History

Canadian artist Arlee Barr offers up an unusual 'heart' for this holiday season. I've included two photos, one is a closeup of her work. Click on the full size photo to visit her blog.

Subscribe To Subversive Stitchers

Search This Blog

Need a present for a special woman in your life?

A friend sent me this photo and I just had to share it with you. I have been thinking of giving scarves as gifts this Christmas. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind. But its a thought. :) I don't have a link or directions, but I bet you can figure it out! Of course other Subversive Stitchers suggested a Google search for 'boob scarves' and that opens the door to amazing and crazy crafts. One article pictures a variety of crafts gone wild. Just click on the photo

The Knitted Convenience

I adore underground stitchers -- subversive to the max!!! And these certainly qualify. See what they've done to public facilities (bathrooms) in Sydney!!

New Gadget: Followers

Blogger now offers a 'followers' option. People can publicly or privately sign up and be alerted to updates made to this site. Below are the buttons to click to sign up.

Followers

Longarm or hand quilting patterns

A variety of free patterns and more designed by Theo van der Heijden

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART Podcasts

This website for the National Gallery of Art podcasts was recently mentioned at Quilting Arts and it looks fascinating -- lectures on all aspects of art. Maybe inspire the next of your own works.

Flour resist

Thanks to suggestions from my Playing with Paint experience, and excellent step by step directions from Bridget's Matchbook Blog, I spent a fun morning with a new resist (new to me) -- a flour resist that has turned out to be quite fun (and messy -- in a good way). It gave me a reason to get my old cake decorating tools out and just have fun. Click on the photo to get the directions.

Grand Gobbler Turkey

Looking for a fun Thanksgiving project that may get the kids and grownups thinking about what they're thankful for? Check out Sewing.org for this adorable project

Great teaching videos

Sharon Schamber's website/network has detailed videos for various techniques. One is free for February on using Piece-lique technique to sew a leaf. Great info for doing curved piecing and small areas

Crazy Quilters Alert

Check out this informative and nicely crafted site with information that will benefit not only crazy quilters

Have you heard of Zentangle?

A form of intuitive art (maybe a new form of doodling?)

What a great gallery of fabric art: Check out what's being done

Fiber Vision, a group of fabric artists are creating some vibrant and unusual and delightful art. This is one of today's ah-ha moments!

Best Breast

I couldn't resist. I have no self control. I saw this article and had to share it with everyone -- knitter or not I think you'll enjoy it. It's a contest, by the way -- knit your own breast.

Odd bits: Knit a chicken sweater (jumper)

Little Hen Rescue in Norwich, England rescues chickens from battery barns. I first heard about this group when they requested knitted jumpers for the featherless, stressed out birds. Click on the image to find out more about knitting for chickens and their efforts to save these birds.